Nova Kool fridge thermostat - Can I replace with generic?

[mncruiser]

Showed up to the boat today to find a warm fridge. Doh!

Some quick troubleshooting isolated the thermostat as the problem. I currently have it hot-wired and running, ice cubes are important!

The unit is a Nova Kool RFU6200 - https://www.novakool.com/rfu6200-1 and I think it is new as of 2012. The boat is a 2003 Mainship 390.

The fridge is a fridge/freezer unit, the thermostat seems to only be in the fridge compartment.

On the thermostat it says "WPF24.5-S" and "150713-02B-1B". The interwebs can't find either, but found many close things. I'm going to call Nova Kool in the morning to see if they can help.

Can I replace with a generic thermostat? They all seem to look somewhat similar. I'm taking a long trip in a week, so time is a bit tight. My hot wire fix will work if I have to...but would rather have a thermostat in it.

Another question - Is there anyone who has upgraded thermostats to some digital setup? It seems like we are always messing with this one.

Thanks for any ideas you have!

 

[Comodave]

We had a Novakool (Nevercool) refer in our boat. It quit cooling and I was less than impressed with the support, the answering machine said they wouldn’t help you troubleshoot any problems but call an authorized dealer. They listed about 25 in my area but none of them would work on freon based systems only ammonia based systems. We finally cut it up so I could get it out of the door. We bought an Isotherm that would fit in the door after removing the doors on it. It had some shipping damage to one of the doors so Defender is going to replace the door but the Isotherm cools extremely well so far. My wife filled it up completely and then we had to turn it down as it was freezing in the refer and not just the freezer.

 

[mncruiser]

What model did you have and what did you replace it with?

 

[Don Souza]

Shure marine in seattle might have what you need. Give them a call.
nice guys.
Don

 

[Comodave]

What model did you have and what did you replace it with?

I don’t have the model number of the old one, got rid of all the documentation. But it was about 7 cubic feet. The Isotherm is a CR271. It is 9.6 cubic feet and it is 7” taller so I had to modify the cabinet it is mounted in a bit. But it has been well worth it.

 

[mncruiser]

Shure marine in seattle might have what you need. Give them a call.
nice guys.
Don

Thank you! Sure Marine was awesome. Have what I need in stock, and also suggested adding a fan behind the fridge (as others have detailed here before) which I also purchased.

Highly recommend, they were super helpful! Sure Marine -https://www.suremarineservice.com/

They also have a super helpful fridge size chart that could be super helpful for someone looking to replace their unit -https://www.suremarineservice.com/Galley/Refrigeration-Size-Comparison/

 

[mncruiser]

We had a Novakool (Nevercool) refer in our boat. It quit cooling and I was less than impressed with the support, the answering machine said they wouldn’t help you troubleshoot any problems but call an authorized dealer. They listed about 25 in my area but none of them would work on freon based systems only ammonia based systems. We finally cut it up so I could get it out of the door. We bought an Isotherm that would fit in the door after removing the doors on it. It had some shipping damage to one of the doors so Defender is going to replace the door but the Isotherm cools extremely well so far. My wife filled it up completely and then we had to turn it down as it was freezing in the refer and not just the freezer.

Nevercool, haha! I was chatting the Sure Marine guy up, and said the "Nevercool" thing and he laughed and then said people call the NorCold units "NoCold". He assured me that both are good units, but each has their own issues.